Italian, Russian leaders aim to boost trade relations

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi met on Friday with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to discuss bilateral ties and pave the way for further trade agreements.

Berlusconi praised the excellent state of relations between the two countries. "Italy and Russia have always enjoyed a special friendship and this is proven by the fact that in the first quarter of the year bilateral trade rose by 41 percent," he stressed.

The two leaders observed that the commercial liaison ahead was even brighter for prosperous cooperation between Italian and Russian firms.

Acknowledging that the crisis was over in both countries, Medvedev said he looked forward to boosting trade with Italy. " Russia is expected to grow by 5 percent this year and Italy as well is set to perform well."

But it's not just a question of economic interests. Personal relations between Russia and Italy are outstanding.

Appealing to Berlusconi, Medvedev said he was "without doubt among the most authoritative and experienced" leaders of the Group of Eight (G8), adding that he "always followed very carefully what Silvio does and how he answers questions".

Berlusconi expressed his desire that Italian firms had a major role in Russia's modernization process, while Medvedev invited Italy's technological industries to invest in his country so as to fill Russia's innovation gap and transfer precious know-how and skills.

As for strategic sectors of future bilateral agreements the Russian president indicated pharmaceutics, space, nuclear energy and telecommunications. "In all these areas Italian firms are more than welcome," he said.

The bilateral meeting was an informal one, no institutional agreements were signed but it stood as a unique opportunity to analyze the state of current relations and pave way for stronger ties.

Berlusconi said that the year 2011 is set to be crucial in advancing cultural relations as well thanks to two major events: the simultaneous celebration of both the Italian culture year in Russia and of the Russian culture year in Italy.

Among the events planned, special tourism projects and documentaries will be playing a major role.

"The Italian language in Russia is one of our core values," Medvedev observed, adding how strategic reciprocal knowledge of each other's language was not only at an institutional, political and economic level but also among youth.

As a personal commitment, Berlusconi pledged to push forward the European Union's "partnership for modernization" aimed at easing visa restrictions for Russians.

The two leaders discussed as well the results of the recent G8 and G20 summits, agreeing upon the importance of maintaining the G8's current format as a helpful instrument of debate and meetings between heads of state.

Other topics covered by Berlusconi and Medvedev were the need to revamp peace talks in the Middle East and Russia's role in European safety.

Source:Xinhua